Review: BIGiDESIGN XTS Titanium Pen + Stylus - Black

I'm back with another awesome pen + stylus combination from BIGiDESIGN! Here's another big thank you to Chadwick of Big Idea Design for sending this pint-sized pen for me to review. This XTS Titanium Pen + Stylus is in bead-blasted black and is the pocket-sized version of the solid titanium pen + stylus. This beauty, like its bigger sibling, came from a successful Kickstarter project - so a big thank you to all you wonderful backers that made this magic possible.

SPECS - from Big Idea Design

Weight: 1.13 oz/30 g
Dimensions: 3.93" × 0.43" × 0.43"
Colours: Bead-blasted black, bead-blasted silver & high polished chrome
Materials: TA4 Grade 4 Titanium, Conductive silicone (Stylus tip)

APPEARANCE & FEEL

The XTS Titanium Pen + Stylus is slightly shorter than the solid titanium pen + stylus at 3.93 " compared to 5.35" respectively. This makes the XTS pen an obviously cuter (obviously to me anyway), pocket-sized version that otherwise shares the same appearance as the larger version. Once again, I'm thrilled with the bead-blasted black color of this mini pen. Despite its "cute" size, the overall appearance of this pen is very cool, very sleek, and again, very stealthy. 

This pocket version is only a few grams lighter than than the full version, so I would say it's fairly heavy for its size, but not at all "too heavy". It has great balance when capped, and is the perfect length and weight when posted. It feels fantastic in hand. The finish is also wonderful to the touch. In the solid titanium pen + stylus review, I noted the attention to detail. The same attention has been paid here to this little pen.

DETAILS & USE

Bits.

The XTS pen has all the same great features as the bigger solid titanium pen + stylus. It comes with a great little protective microfiber black felt sleeve, a sturdy clip, a flat back plug in the event you want to remove your stylus, anti-slip finger grooves on the barrel, nice, clean threads for the cap that threads on to cap and post. The stylus tip is really good - very responsive, and can be removed should you wish to. It's also replaceable so you can basically keep your pen + stylus forever.

While I love the body and stylus part of this pen just as much as the larger version, in comparison to the solid titanium pen + stylus, it just does not match up in terms of refills. Because it's a compact pen, it is only compatible with compact pen refills, such as the Pilot G-2 mini refill that it came with. The intent of this pen is for it to be used as a travel-type pen and for jotting quick notes on the go, so the wide range of available refills may not be necessary. Personally though, I think the smaller version is "cuter" so I'm more likely to use this one more often than the solid titanium pen + stylus. If I could have a plethora of refills available to fit, I would be ecstatic!

On the other hand, this pen can be more comfortably posted than its larger counterpart. In fact, it is easy to write with extensively both posted and unposted.

CONS

The only downside here the limited refills you can use. I'm sure you can hack full length refills to work with this compact pen, but if you're not into that, you'll have fewer to pick from than with the solid titanium pen + stylus.

PRICE

$55 at BIGiDESIGN

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OVERALL

Despite the downside of fewer available refills, I'm still in love with this pen. Very well made, great quality, awesome stylus, and it looks so badass, doesn't it? And again, free worldwide shipping.

Full Disclosure: Unfortunately, I had missed this Kickstarter project so this XTS titanium pen + stylus was sent to me by Chadwick for me to test and then review. I was not compensated monetarily. All these opinions are 100% my own. I swear on all four of my cats's lives.